GinSlinger
by Chlorocosmo
Summary: Subconscious shackles forged with time and pain. Hardships which eat away the soul. Paths that wander away will slowly find their way back again in the never ending passage of time in order for one's hope to not be broken under their lonely burden. This is an AU GaNa fic.
1. Chapter 1

Subconscious shackles forged with time and pain.

Hardships which eat away the soul.

Paths that wander away will slowly find their way back again in the never ending passage of time in order for one's hope to not be broken under their lonely burden.

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Oh, and by the way, I do not claim to have created or have ownership over any of the characters or the story. The rights go to their respective owners...

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"N-no, don't... stop" a whimper escaped from her mouth. "Don't... nnn... AAGH!" her voice yelled out through the humid night as a firm hand pushed her back into her pillow in order to keep her body from flailing.

"Cana!" a hand clamped over her mouth as the woman's consciousness drifted into a world of shadows, every whisper holding a fresh memory of terror.

The man shook her shoulders. "Cana, dammit, wake up!" His voice was thick with worry as he had never seen the brunette like this.

Sweat seemed to pour from her skin as he was fourced to restrain her again before she could let out another blood curtling scream.

"Fuck this..." The raven haired man sealed her lips with his own in another attempt to wake her.

"..."

"..."

A hand smacked him upside the head and he pulled back from the woman, not bothering to hide the wave of relief as she pulled her hair out of her face and sat up in their bed as if nothing had happened.

"Mind telling me what the fuck that was?" He ventured to ask the question burning in his mind while he pulled her still trembling body close to his own.

Cana took a deep breath, savoring her husband's warmth before lifting her face to his. "Shaddup and stop worrying. This is my shit to deal with, not yours. I'll be fine."

Groaning, Gajeel kissed her forehead and brushed the hair from her neck. "Still, it's a fucking pain in the ass for you to wake up screaming next to me. You're safe. Tell me?"

The brunette's eyes locked onto his red ones and she sighed. "These are my demons to bear."

"Say the word and I'll rip them to pieces."

A smirk came to her face before her body finally relaxed and she drifted to sleep in his arms.

Gajeel let out a frustrated growl, making sure not to wake her as he uttered one word, "Women."

* * *

_Eight years ago_

Slosh, slosh... the sound of liquor dancing in a bottle.

The woman swirled the poison-like liquor around, watching the amber colored drink move inside the glass.

There was nothing more beautiful, wait... was there?

Cana thought for a moment and swished the whiskey around in it's container before shrugging. '_Naaah...' _The answer didn't matter, only the rest of her whiskey did.

Why would it matter?

_'I don't know, don't care.'_

It's not like the liquor in that dark brown bottle would ever leave her; unlike so many of her previous boyfriends had. There was little to look forward to for the next day besides more whiskey and perhaps a few odd jobs to get more money for more liquor, maybe she'd score some gin and a bottle of brandy.

"Hmm..." Cana leaned back on the counter and hummed, completely ignoring the brawl that just erupted in the bar.

She was alone with her 'boyfriend' what else mattered?

"Cana! Help me with this idiot!", a pink haired man in the corner yelled to her and grimaced as he began getting pummeled while in a headlock.

The brunette simply sighed and stood, annoyed that he chose such a time to get someone pissed at him.

How could he interrupt the warm glow spreading through her body with his menial troubles?

Why she was always begged by him to settle his issues was completely unknown to her, it didn't make sense, a young able man like him asking a drunk to do his dirty work.

With a grimace she set down the brown bottle lovingly and slipped her skin tight jean clad legs off the counter, her tight red cami barely fitting over her massive chest, and the ass that a few men had the pleasure of seeing from behind killed with one glance.

"Boy...", authoritatively she reached a hand behind her and drew out a silver 9mm pistol seemingly out of nowhere. "Let the kid go."

The man stood and grinned, his smile gleamed with malice, "Hello pretty lady. I'm afraid I have a few things to settle with him at the moment, I'll make sure to settle you later."

"Cut the crap, get out... now." Cana cocked the gun and aimed it at the man's head, her hand steady and eyes watching his every movement.

Natsu paused for a moment. _Is she serious? _Out of all the times he had asked the brunette to help him with his fights, she had never pulled out her gun.

"C-cana... what're you doing?"

"Shut up, squirt. This is all cause you couldn't handle a fist fight. You're the one who came to me for help." A sadistic grin spread across her face as she glared at the pinkette, "Don't complain."

"Whoa whoa, little lady. I haven't done anything to you. No need to be flashing around that pretty little thing." The piercings in his face and ears gleamed from the light and his raven-black hair was tied back with a blood red bandanna. Though he was much taller than the woman, he couldn't help but shiver under the weight of her gaze. Something he wasn't used to.

The three of them stood there for a few minutes before Cana wobbled slightly from the alcohol and steadied herself again, glaring at the tall man. "Get the fuck out or I'll shoot."

Gajeel flashed a wary look at the pinkette who just stared in shock, amazed at the killing intent exuding from the brunette.

"Ok, I'll leave, just put away that toy you got there and let me get my stuff", he pointed to a guitar case in the corner and grimaced as her gaze sharpened.

After a few seconds of what looked to be Cana having a difficult time deciding, she nodded towards his guitar case and un-cocked the gun. "Hurry up, you two interrupted my date."

Cana turned, completely forgetting the encounter she just had and trying to start back where she left off with her precious bottle of liquor. The woman safely stowed the gun back behind her in her belt and tottered back to the counter.

"Who the fuck took my whiskey?!"

* * *

Gajeel chuckled to himself and walked away from the saloon with his old guitar case slung over his shoulder. Strange things seemed to happen every day in this town, which made it one of his favorite watering holes.

The women were especially exciting, and he was intrigued by the brunette drunkard who dared hold a gun to his, Gajeel Redfox's, head. The nerve.

Though, this also made it dangerous.

The longer he stayed, the longer someone was bound to recognize him. And a 2 mil jewel bounty was bound to be noticed by more than just a few.

He'd have to leave soon.

Quietly he mused while watching the dust spread at each step of his feet. The sun making him squint as it reflected off the sand around him.

Fucking sand.

Everywhere.

The dryness of the desert seemed to want to suck every last drop of moisture out of his body like a greedy brothel full of old hags.

It was annoying, yet comforting in some strange way. The damned dryness at least let him know he was still alive and moving.

The man shifted the guitar case on his back and looked over his shoulder again at the half empty saloon as a rather shaken up man ran out the door, his face painted with terror.

_Looks like I left just as things started to get interesting. _Gajeel's mind instantly thought of the drunken brunette and he grinned, deciding to run the risk of dropping in on her before he left.

_Besides, it wouldn't be the end of the world to have a bit of fun... right?_

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__Thanks for reading! I'll try to have the next chapter finished within a reasonable amount of time. Please feel free to leave a review and look at some of the other things I've written. Though be careful of Redemption, that one's a bit wild. xD

Ja~


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Finally updated, let me know what you think by leaving a review! Been rather busy with college and shiz so hopefully I'll get more time to write after midterms... heh... heheh...

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Oh, and by the way, I do not claim to have created or have ownership over any of the characters or the story. The rights go to their respective owners...

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"Hissssssss"

The man looked down at the endlessly dust covered ground and cursed under his breath, "The fuck do you want?"

Spitting to the side, Gajeel stepped on the sand snake's head with a satisfying crunch and went back to his nap under the back porch of the saloon he had ventured into the day before.

He knew his ass would be covered in the dust which was fucking everywhere, but it was better than being roasted under the desert sun.

Why was he under a porch instead of getting a drink in the dimply lit, sauna-like cantina?

"Che... the things I do for women..." He smirked at what he had planned and settled down, pulling his bandanna over his eyes to block out the few rays of sunlight that dared bare their fangs into his eyes.

Instead he imagined the exact thing he was waiting for, what he considered to be worth the few hours under a saloon porch in the blazing son in order to avoid any curious eyes with a good memory for bounties.

Long rich brunette hair, sweetly curved jugs, small waist... and that ass. Not to mention how she handled a gun. A soft hum escaped his lips as his mind wandered in fantasies in order to pass the time.

Worth it?

It'd fucking better be.

"Oi, Natsu. If you're done being a wimp you could buy me a beer or two." The brunette whistled over to the pinkette whose sole purpose in life at that moment was cleaning the cantina's floor with a small toothbrush despite the multitude of bruises along his person.

Why was he doing this when a floor in a bar... in the middle of a desert, would most certainly never get clean?

Let's just say that his habit of picking fights would have gotten him kicked out of the watering hole long before if the owner didn't have a slight glint of sadism in him. The bar-keep usually occupied his time by 'accidentally' knocking ash trays off the counter just to see the boy suffer.

The pinkette groaned in annoyance as he attempted to ignore the buxom woman trying to get his attention while he tried, in vain, to sweep ashes into a corner. "Shaddup, Cana... I'm busy."

An impish smile touched Cana's eyes before she returned to her seemingly normal scowl of irritation. She enjoyed messing with the kid, and the fact that he had such a humiliating job made it easy to embarrass him whenever she wanted.

The brief smile didn't go unnoticed however as a few men who had unconsciously begun staring at Cana noticed it and they instantly knew that the kid was dead. Over the years Cana's smile had developed a type of fear among the grown men of the small outpost. Especially since the only time any man saw her smile was when she either was about to blast someone's brains out, or give them the night of their life.

"That's some way to talk to the person who saved your ass earlier, boy." She paused for a moment to remember what she had wanted to say. Her drunk mind momentarily savoring the tingling sensation in her extremities. Cana took another step forward towards the boy who was studiously ignoring her and she nudged him in the rear with her boot, forcing him to give her some attention. "I could'a just left you to get beat up, surely I deserve some kind o' payment." There the smirk was again, this time Natsu himself noticed and a bead of sweat traced a line down his face. "Or do ya want me to invite Babyface over to set ya right on how to get down on yer hands and knees."

Natsu's face froze as he took in the weight of her words. 'Babyface', the resident tranny who had a certain taste for young fresh men.

The boy stuttered slightly in shock and tried to formulate some type of defense, his mind going into panic as she gained his full attention. "B-but, I never asked you to point a gun at the metal-headed freak."

Shrugging, Cana prodded him again a bit harder, "Doesn't matter how I wanna do it. I did it, now get over it and buy me a fucking beer or two. Otherwise I'm gonna have to take a trip down and tell Our _Little_ Friend that it's 'is lucky day."

By this point they had gathered a small crowd from what was left of the dwindling customers who hadn't yet had their fill for the night and even the Bar-keep was beginning to feel sympathy for the boy, however little that may have been.

"Dammit, Cana." The pinkette dodged another kick and grumbled as he made his way to his feet, giving the owner a pleading stare as Natsu was forced to become even more indebted to the man. Hopefully at least he'd lay off the ash tray bumping for a week if Cana decided to make good on her threat anyway out of boredom or the forgetfulness that often followed her varied states of inebriation.

The evil grin that the Owner managed to flash at him while sliding over three beers erased his hopes and he pushed two over to Cana, hoping that more alcohol would pacify the woman enough for her to leave him alone, "Happy now?"

...

The brunette stared at the beer bottles for a few seconds as if trying to focus on them before reaching out and snatching them into her bosom and blushing with happiness. However she quickly hid this and popped open the first bottle, knocking it back as if it was water and sighing in contentment.

Her attention wandered back to the boy who was drowning his fears in the bottle, hoping that the brunette would just forget about him, "...so".

Cana's eyes narrowed, "The fuck did you say to that dipshit who came in here earlier to make him bust you up like that?" She really didn't care much what had happened, however as the boy learned, he had begun asking for her help less and less. Her mind could never figure out why that was, but she hardly cared more than the fact that she didn't get free booze.

Natsu gulped before glancing back at the door as if the man would walk in at that very second. "I-I saw his face before... he's got a bounty on that metal head of his."

Finally, darkness blanketed the parched town as Gajeel slipped himself out of the shadows and into the cricket-filled night. "Oi, kid... you know what you're supposed to do, right?" The wary glint in the man's eyes was calmed as he saw the kid jumping off the rafters nodding eagerly.

A chuckle escaped his lips and he wondered what he couldn't get a curious kid to do with the promise of a bottle of ale.

"I'll get her there, don't worry mister red-eyes." The violet haired kid nodded again before heading off in the direction of the bar's faintly outlined door.

Grimacing, Gajeel knew that this was his last night in the worn little town. He'd at least try to make it worth his time.

Moving quietly between shadows, the metal studded man made his way to the abandoned water tower on the outskirts of town. He'd been through enough trouble over the past few days, surely he deserved to let off a bit of steam. And he knew that the brunette from before was no ordinary broad.

The structure creaked as he leaned on it and waited, twirling a stray thread on his gun holster and staring up at the star-littered sky. A vague thought of the boy giving him away crossed his mind and he sighed to himself, even if he did, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stop running.

A bounty... Cana thought carefully on what the pinkette had said and imagined all the alcohol turning in that red-eyed man could get her. Sure, she wasn't one to betray people to the authorities, she herself stayed scarce when the sheriff made his rounds. But a full on criminal? This was almost too sweet.

Absentmindedly the woman ran a finger along the pistol handle in her pocket and hummed an old travelling tune. The words escaped her and she swallowed down the nostalgia that threatened to eat at her conscience with a drought of gin.

Bam.

The door to the dim cantina burst open as a young boy rushed in and fell to her feet, his breathless gasps choking out his words as he tried to tell her something.

"Brat, I don't have time for this, what do you want." Cana grumbled something about random homeless kids before the child finally managed to squeeze a few sentences between breaths.

His eyes fixed on her and the serious look he was giving her caught the woman's attention, "T-that man... he has my mom... help me."

Cana's eyes widened at the information.

"Where?"

"On the outskirts of town... p-please... help. I'll take you there."

He shot a pleading look at her and Cana stared blankly.

"Why didn't you go to Sheriff Conbolt?" Suspicion began to surface in Cana's mind as she watched the boy's face drop slightly.

Suddenly his eyes turned to steel before her, "I overheard one of the drunkards talking about how you nearly shot him today. I want him dead, not put in prison. Please hurry... my mother."

The desperate face ached at her conscience and she snatched the bottle of gin off the counter. "What the hell. Hurry up, kid. And you'd better pay me afterward."

Nodding intensely, the boy bolted out of the bar the way he came and Cana was forced to jog after him in order to not lose sight of the child. Quietly she mulled over the facts in her mind before placing a hand on her gun to assure herself that it was still there where she had left it as the bottle of gin sloshed in her other hand in protest.

Quickly, the two of them left the dimly lit area around the center of town and it became harder to keep track of the boy. Cana cursed under her breath as she lost sight of him. Had she really come here for nothing? The drunkette took a deep swig of her gin before the sound of a child's scream caught her ears.

"Fucking dammit..."Drawing her gun, she turned the corner to see the boy lying in the dirt under the old water tower.

Scanning the area, Cana slowly walked forward, wary of attack. "Oi, kid... you had better not 'a fucking kicked the bucket." She called over to the boy quietly and was relieved to see him move.

Wait... he was sitting up... why was he smirking at her?

An alarm rang in the voluptuous woman's mind just before a seemingly rough hand clamped over her mouth while another hand relieved her of her weapon. She watched the boy cradle what looked to be a bottle of ale before he nodded to the being behind her and took off into the night.

Cana realized in panic that the rough feeling of the man's hand was really a cloth and a harsh smell pervaded her senses as the world turned black and the bottle of gin fell from her hand, fucking dammit.


End file.
